The first coins were probably introduced into India in the fourth century BC when punch-marked coins of different weights were introduced. Both copper and silver punch-marked coins were issued under the Mauryan Empire. Greek-style coins began circulating in India during the second century BC. After the Mauryan Empire collapsed, local tribal states began issuing their own coins. Inscriptions were Indian, but designs were Greek.
Satavahana coins issued in southern India created a distinct coinage from that of northern India that lasted into the nineteenth century. They issued both silver and led coins with symbolic designs, such as wheels, fish, trees, etc. Trade with Ancient Rome brought Roman coins into India which also influenced local designs. Kushan coins were minted in India between the second century BC and the second century AD. They issued the first gold coins in India.
The Guptas succeeded the Kushan Empire in the fourth century and Samudragupta (ca 350-370) issued coins similar in design to Kushan coins. The Huns issued coins in the fifth and sixth centuries in the parts of India they conquered. The issue of coinage declined during the sixth century, but in the ninth century coinage started to revive. The Kalachuri kings of Tripuri and Ratnapura issued gold coins, and the issue of gold and silver coins picked up in the tenth century.
The first locally produced Islamic coins appeared in the eighth century, but large scale production of Islamic coins didn't begin until the invasion of India by Muslims in the eleventh century. Mohammad bin Sam (1187-1206) conquered northern India and established the Sultanate of Delhi. Gold, silver and copper coins were issued with Arabic inscriptions and some Indian designs. Although the Sultanate expanded to cover almost the entire Indian subcontinent, most coins were produced by local Sultans. In particular, the Vijayanagar Kingdom in southern India issued coins similar in design to the old Satavahana coins.
The disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate allowed the Mughals to overrun northern India between 1525 and 1556. Initially, Mughal coins were based on Afghan designs, but they gradually changed to reflect the coins of the Delhi Sultanate. Akhbar completed the conquest of India and in 1584 he established a coinage system of mohurs and rupees that lasted until 1842 when the last Mughal coins were minted. Most coins were inscriptional in their design, though some coins had portraits on them.
When Vasco de Gama reached India in 1498, the leading states in India were the Muslim sultanate of Delhi in the north and the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in the south. The Mughal Empire supplanted the Delhi sultanate by May 27, 1526, and by the late 1600s it had expanded over most of India. The British East India Company defeated a combined Mughal and French force in 1757, resulting in British supremacy in Bengal (Calcutta and the surrounding area). Thereafter British conquests spread rapidly. The Indian Mutiny of 1857-8 confirmed the existence of grave deficiencies in the company's administration of India, and on November 1, 1858 the British government took over the rule of India from the company. British India was partitioned between the Dominions of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947. The areas of Jammu and Kashmir and of Sikkim share their monetary history with India.
Under Mughal rule, there were numerous monetary systems coexisting within India. The account Rupee had numerous subdivisions, which varied according to the Principality and the location within India. There was a Rupee of Account (INA), divisible into 16 Annas, 32 Ponis, 128 Burries and 2560 Cowries; a Rupee for the northern Muslim parts of India (INM), divisible into 16 Annas, 64 Pice or 192 Pie; a Hun for the Hindu parts of southern India (INH), equal to 3.6 Rupees and divisible into 42 Fanams, 168 Faluce or 3360 Cash; and the Baddam in Surat (INB), divisible into 100 Crores, 10,000 Lakhs, or 1,000,000 Rupees. The Kori, divisible into 4 Payalo, 8 Dhabu or 24 Dokda, was used in Kutch (INK). As always during the pre-twentieth century era, since the monetary system was a mixture of units of accounts, some gold, and silver and copper coins, the relative values of the different coins fluctuated against each other dramatically. A gold standard existed in Madras, a silver standard in Bengal, and a mixture in between. No uniform measure of value existed in India before 1800.
The British tried to bring some order to the monetary chaos as they consolidated their control over India. The Act of 1835 established the silver rupee as the standard coin for British India, and the first rupees were minted by the East India Company. Gold mohurs, equal to 15 Rupees, continued to be minted until they lost their legal tender status until January 1, 1853. Hence, India was on a bimetallic standard from around January 1, 1836 to December 31, 1852, on a silver standard from January 1, 1853 to June 25, 1893, on a weak Gold Standard from June 26, 1893 to December 31, 1897 and on a Pound Sterling standard from 1898 on. British Gold sovereigns were made legal tender in India in January 1899 and they became legal tender in all the countries whose monetary system was based on the Indian Rupee.
The British government took over control from the East India Company in 1857, and in 1862 the British began issuing a unified coinage for all of India. Although local sultans continued to issue coins after 1862, the coins gradually began to conform to the British standard.
Before the British took over India from the East India Company, individual banks had issued and circulated banknotes, but under British rule, the government monopolized the issue of banknotes, though with banknotes issued and redeemable regionally. The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 and became the sole banknote issuing authority in India.
Under British rule, several princely states had the right to issue coins and banknotes, and several of them did so until 1950. Hyderabad issued its own banknotes and coins throughout the British colonial era. The Hyderabad Rupee was slightly different from the Indian Rupee with 7 hali sicca (osmania sicca) rupees = 6 Indian rupees.
The three presidency zones of the British colonial era initially had separate rupees: the sicca rupee (Calcutta), the old Bombay rupee, and the Madras arcot rupee, each having a slightly different weight. The East India Company made the Madras Rupee its standard Rupee in 1818 and thus it was called the 'Company's Rupee'. The Sicca Rupee then ceased to be legal tender. The Rupee sytem was standardized by the British on June 26, 1893 when the Indian Rupee was fixed at the rate of 1 Sovereign (British Pound) equal to 15 Rupees. The British standardized the silver Rupee (INR) throughout India, and made it divisible into 16 Annas, 64 Pice or 192 Pie. It took 15 Rupees to get 1 Mohur. Its value fluctuated, relative to the British Pound, as the values of silver and gold fluctuated.
The Indian Rupee was also used extensively in the Middle East, east Africa and other parts of the world that were on trade routes to and from India. The Rupee was used in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Mauritius and the Seychelles, though divided into 100 Cents. The Indian Rupee was used in Aden and in British Somaliland until 1951, in Iraq from 1917 to 1931, in Kuwait until 1961, in Bahrain until 1966, in Qatar and the Trucial Coast until 1967 and in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman until 1966. The Rupee was also used in Zanzibar, Burma, Pakistan, Bhutan and the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf Rupee (XPGR) was used in Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial States, and the Haj Rupee (XINP) was issued for pilgrims to Mecca. The Rupee also became the standard for the monetary systems of Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
After gaining its independence, India continued to use the Rupee. The Rupee was made divisible into 100 Naye Paise between 1957 and 1965, and 100 Paise beginning in 1964. The Treasury of the Government of India issued banknotes until 1943. The Reserve Bank of India was set up in April 1, 1935 and took over responsibility for issuing banknotes. The Crore (10,000,000 Rupees) and Lakh (100,000 Rupees) are often used as units of account. The Haj Rupee and Persian Gulf Rupees (XPGR) were issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
French India included Chandernagor, Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe and Yanoan, which became French territories in 1674. Chandernagor was transferred to India on May 2, 1950, and Pondicherry was transferred to India on November 1, 1954. The Indian Rupee was legal tender in French India, and the Banque de l'Indochine issued the French India Roupiah (INFR) at par with the Indian Rupee. The French India Roupiah was divisible into 8 Fanams, 24 Duddus or 96 Cache until 1871, and divisible into 16 Annas, 64 Pice or 192 Pie thereafter. French India also issued gold coins called Pagodas. The French India Roupiah and Indian Rupee were at par with each another.
The Dutch East India Company captured Cochin from the Portugues and opened posts in Pulikat (1610) and Negapatam (1690) while the Danish captured Tranquebar. Both the Dutch and the Danes issued gold, silver and copper coins based on Vijayanagar coinage.
Portuguese India primarily included Diu, Damao and Goa, which was occupied by the Portuguese in 1510. India occupied Goa on December 19, 1961 and it was formally recognized as part of India on March 16, 1962.
The Portuguese began issuing coins in 1521 in imitation of local Bijapur coins. The Portuguese continued to issue coins until the Goa mint was closed by the British in 1869. From 1871 on, coins for Portuguese India were minted in Lisbon. The Banco Nacional Ultramarino issued Portuguese India Rupias (INPR) at par with the Indian Rupee, divisible into 16 Tanga and equal to 960 Reis, beginning in 1881. The Rupia was replaced with the Escudo (INPE), divisible into 100 Centavos, on January 1, 1959 with 6 Escudos equal to 1 Rupee, causing the Portuguese to issue 30, 60, 300 and 600 Escudo notes. The Indian Rupee (INR) replaced the Escudo when Goa became part of India.
For a very nice site with descriptions and a small history of each of India's past Governors, click here. |
